DRIVING THE DAY

MAY FLIES: Theresa May and her top Brexit advisers make a flying visit to Brussels tonight for showdown talks with the most senior members of the EU Commission. In the room for tonight’s working dinner will be President Jean-Claude Juncker, his powerful chief of staff Martin Selmayr and his chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Alongside May will be her most senior EU sherpa Olly Robbins and her Brexit Secretary David Davis (cast list via POLITICO’s Morgen Europa). It comes three days before a crunch EU Council summit when EU27 leaders will decide whether Brexit talks can move onto trade.

Bolt from the blue: A Downing Street aide told Playbook last night the May/Juncker summit has been in the diary for “a little while.” But there was no mention of it from No. 10 last week and not a sniff in any weekend papers. BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg broke the news via Twitter at 8.34 p.m. last night. The meeting does not appear in Juncker’s diary, Sky News’s Faisal Islam points out.

Dinner diplomacy: The meeting marks the most significant phase of another whirlwind round of diplomacy which has seen the PM speak to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and Dutch PM Mark Rutte over recent days. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hosted eight EU foreign ministers for talks at his country estate yesterday — presumably you’ve seen the boating footage already. May will hope it goes better than the last May/Juncker dinner, which caused a furor after details leaked.

Takeaway: No. 10 is trying to build on the momentum triggered by the PM’s Florence speech but badly damaged by bitter Cabinet rows that followed. May needs to get the maximum possible out of this week’s EU Council summit while also convincing Europe’s power players that despite what they may read in the U.K. press, she is still very much in charge. Last week’s leaked conclusions show EU27 leaders are preparing to at least discuss an agreed position on transition and trade among themselves before the end of the year. May wants them to go further but Germany and France are pushing for a harder line by insisting on a mention of the European Court of Justice retaining authority over citizens’ rights.

Swiss trap: The British government is still in furious debate with itself about what the optimal outcome of Brexit negotiations would be, with leading Euroskeptics eyeing a version of a Swiss-style deal which allows extensive single market access but with more flexibility to break from Brussels’ regulation in certain sectors without undermining the whole agreement, POLITICO’s Tom McTague reports today. “At its core it is a free-trade deal like the agreement recently signed by the EU and Canada, but one which starts with regulation on both sides being exactly aligned, something U.K. officials believe makes Swiss-style access politically possible,” McTague writes.

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Backdrop: Jaw-dropper this morning from the Telegraph’s International Business Editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who says a colossal write-down of Britain’s finances has left global banks and traders in shock. “Half a trillion pounds has gone missing. This is equivalent to 25 percent of GDP,” Bank of America’s Mark Capleton tells him. Analysts say the impact on the pound could be grave. “The worry is that the pound could really go. If the history of the past 40 years is any guide, it could fall another 20 percent once it does,” the Bank of New York Mellon’s currency strategist Simon Derrick said. “You can very easily construct a scenario where this goes pear-shaped for Britain,” adds David Owen of investment bank Jefferies. “The risk is the Bank of England may ultimately have to raise rates to defend sterling. We have been here before when Britain had to go the IMF in 1976.”

And there’s more: The Telegraph also concludes the predicted surge in foreign investment following the slump in the pound last year was “an illusion.” Evans-Pritchard states: “Foreign ­direct investment by companies is plummeting. It fell from a £120bn surplus in the first half 2016 to a £25bn deficit over the same period of this year.” It’s the sort of talk that would get Philip Hammond sacked. The story leads the Telegraph’s business section.

Brexit diary notes: Scottish and Welsh ministers and Northern Ireland’s top civil servant will meet First Secretary of State Damian Green for a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council on Brexit today … In Liverpool the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly will meet, with speeches from Brexit Minister Robin Walker and Northern Ireland Minister Chloe Smith.

ICYMI LAST NIGHT

DIFFERENT TEMPERAMENT: On BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour last night, Tory MP Robert Jenrick — an aide to Amber Rudd — urged Cabinet to stop squabbling and focus on delivering Brexit. Asked specifically about Philip Hammond, Jenrick said: “I think he … has a different temperament to some people.” You can listen here.

I’M WITH HER: The Guardian’s intrepid Diplomatic Editor Patrick Wintour appears to have spent much of yesterday following Hillary Clinton around the country as she spoke at separate engagements in Cheltenham, London and on TV. His report is here. If you still want more, Clinton will be on Woman’s Hour this morning.

NEXT GENERATION: Labour Youth’s annual conference yesterday backed pulling Britain out of “imperialist” NATO along with a series of other controversial decisions. Twitter thread on the main points here.

MEANWHILE IN VIENNA

RIGHT TURN: A 31-year-old former law student is poised to become the world’s youngest leader following yesterday’s Austrian elections. Sebastian Kurz only became chairman of the conservative-leaning Austrian People’s Party in May, but looks certain to become Chancellor later this week as part of a right-wing coalition once all the postal votes have been counted and a new government formed.

RACE FOR SECOND: Projections last night placed the Austrian People’s Party in first with 31.7 percent of the vote, and the Social Democrats second with 26.9 percent. The far-right Freedom Party was a fraction behind in third place with 26 percent. Most observers believe the fiercely anti-immigration Freedom Party is now set to return to government as the junior coalition partner. Full analysis from POLITICO’s Matthew Karnitschnig.

TODAY IN WESTMINSTER

WHAT MPS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Late this afternoon the Boundary Commissions of England, Scotland and Wales will send out details under embargo of revised plans to redraw parliamentary constituencies and cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600. The plan is political dynamite as it effectively means 50 MPs will receive an email threatening to put them out of a job. The proposals will be officially published tomorrow ahead of a planned vote next year, though it’s hard to see how the PM will get it through without a parliamentary majority. Expect a significant outcry from those adversely affected tomorrow morning, followed by swift talk of a rebellion. The DUP are also said to be opposed, though the Northern Ireland proposals are not expected until later in the year.

BUDGET COUNTDOWN: Most papers follow up yesterday’s Sunday Times story about Philip Hammond planning bold reforms in next month’s budget. The Telegraph wipes out most of its front page for a warning that Hammond will seek to address “inter-generational fairness,” which Theresa May has vowed will be a hallmark of her premiership, calling proposals to offer tax breaks to workers in their 20s and 30s (by cutting tax relief for older workers) a “tax on age.” The Mail predicts house-building could be boosted by releasing publicly-owned greenbelt land for development.

MOGGED DOWN: The FT’s Alan Livsey has assessed Jacob Rees-Mogg’s skills as a fund manager in the boom years of the mid-2000s. His verdict is scathing: “Trailed the benchmark … consistent under-performance … less-than stellar.”

EMERGENCY ON PLANET EARTH: No. 10 will agree to a new law to protect frontline emergency service workers from assault, the Mirror and the Huff Post report today. In a rare move, Downing Street has agreed that the bill put forward by Labour MP Chris Bryant — and due for debate in the Commons this Friday — will be allowed to pass. The new law will automatically consider attacks on emergency services personnel as “aggravated” assaults.

KEEP AN EYE ON: The LabourList website this week, which is being guest-edited by shadow cabinet minister Jon Trickett. He is promising articles from Jeremy Corbyn, a former prime minister and more.

BREX-FEST: Not one but two Cabinet ministers speak at the first major event organized by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan’s new pro-Brexit think-tank the Institute for Free Trade. Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke are both on the agenda for the “Global Trade Summit,” which kicks off at 9 a.m. at Mercers’ Hall in the City.

DANCING IN THE STREET: The Daily Mail has bagged pictures of former SNP leader Alex Salmond and former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh on a joint trip to Strasbourg. Despite having lost their Westminster seats, the pair remain part of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and make regular trips together. Deputy Political Editor John Stevens writes: “On Tuesday evening, after downing several glasses of sparkling wine at a brasserie, Mr Salmond, 62, was seen smoking a cigarette and dancing outside in the street close to the boutique hotel where he and Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh, 47, were staying.”

Key line: “The last thing HM Treasury needs as its political leader right now is an ultra-cautious, hand-wringing dullard.”

BEYOND THE M25

BURSTING THE BUBBLE: Lib Dem Greg Mulholland was one of dozens of MPs who lost their seat on June 8. In a frank interview with Yorkshire Post Political Editor James Reed he discusses the shock of defeat after 12 years in office and the profound impact on his life and family. “I got in from the town hall and I just sat in the lounge from half-four until seven o’clock. I’m not sure I was even thinking, just sitting and waiting because I knew I had to tell the kids,” Mulholland said. “I just burst into tears.”

This from Paris

MEDAL OF DISHONOR: French President Emmanuel Macron last night announced plans to strip disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of his Légion d’Honneur.

This from Hanover

MERKED AGAIN: Last night saw another poor showing for Angela Merkel in a German regional election. Her Christian Democrats were beaten into second place in Lower Saxony for the first time in almost 20 years. POLITICO’s Janosch Delcker reports.

This from D.C.

NAFTA NUKED: Under Donald Trump’s pressure the North American Free Trade Agreement is on the verge of falling apart, the Washington Post’s Steven Mufson reports.

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